Outdoor Living on Your Patio
A brick, stone or concrete patio is the perfect spot for outdoor entertaining. These durable, attractive surfaces can handle lots of traffic. They’re also a great location for a fire pit, chimney or outdoor grill because they’re fire-resistant.
Expand Your Entertainment Options
If you love entertaining, expand your options and your living space by taking it outside. With a professionally installed patio, you’ll have plenty of room for large gatherings. You can install outdoor lights, a cooking range and a grill, tables, and benches. Add tiki torches for a festive touch. In the Maryland and Virginia areas, you’ll want candles and lamps designed to keep mosquitoes away.
A patio isn’t just for your guests. On quiet days, escape to a sunlit corner and let yourself relax and enjoy the warm breezes. Even a small home feels expansive when you’re in your open-air room.
Flagstone Patios
Flagstone is a durable stone that is well-suited to almost any garden. It comes in earthy colors and displays varied tones. You can use cut flagstone for a polished look or choose uncut flagstones for a natural, rustic look.
You’ll have to watch for weeds and other plants that grow through the cracks unless you use Capital Masonry’s concrete-encased flagstone, which blocks plants from growing between the stones.
Brick Surfaces
For a classic look that endures, brick is hard to beat. Brick is adaptable to any style of landscape and stays cooler to the touch than other stones, even on hot, sunny days.
They require some upkeep to ensure they don’t crack or come loose after repeated freezing and thawing. Brick can be affected by wet weather and cracks in the grout. A mason can repoint the bricks if this happens.
Exposed Aggregate Concrete
A newer entrant in the patio lineup, exposed aggregate concrete offers many advantages. The process of creating the aggregate allows you to design your patio with your own additions, whether you put in broken tiles, chips of rock, colored marbles or any other items. You’ll get a patio that looks like no other.
Installing exposed aggregate concrete requires specialized skill because the mason needs knowledge of concrete techniques as well as masonry. Exposed aggregate concrete is a good choice near pools, fountains or other water elements because its surface provides a good grip.
Enhance with Hardscaping
Don’t just leave your beautiful patio sitting out there by itself. Stone, concrete or brick paths will add charm and guide your guests around your yard. Add points of interest with plantings of shrubs, solar-powered lights, potted plants and other touches. You can also use brick or stones to edge your garden beds and your pond feature.
A water feature creates a calming, spa-like effect. On hot summer days, a waterfall will add welcome coolness to your patio. You and your guests will enjoy its soothing sounds.
Add Warmth and Color
Trees, shrubs and flowering plants are all part of an attractive landscape design. Pots filled with colorful annuals look striking against the warmth of a brick or stone patio. Herbs and tropical plants will withstand the hottest days and add wonderful fragrance.
Add color to your patio with climbing plants that trail up a trellis or a stone wall. Climbers like passionflower and sky vine produce beautiful flowers that also attract butterflies. Around the edges of your patio, create garden beds planted with canna, wax begonia, lantana and other flowers that thrive in full, hot sun.
Why Professional Installation Matters
If you want a patio that will look good for years, you need to have it professionally installed. An improperly installed patio will be uneven, with grout that starts cracking and loosening as soon as the weather changes. Professional installation will ensure that your stones are correctly placed and ready for daily use.
When it’s time to install a new patio or repair your old one, call Capital Masonry. We’re a third-generation masonry with top rankings on Angie’s List and the BBB. Our many satisfied customers in Maryland, Virginia and the District can attest to our professionalism and integrity. When you need stonework done right, make Capital Masonry your first choice.